No Menu Monday at Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen

Here's a quick take away from my first no menu Monday at Andrew Michael Italian Restaurant: Noma dirt, hibiscus cream cheese and an arugula flower. I'd never seen an arugula flower before, but there it was, a tiny flourish to the meal's third course. The hibiscus cream cheese draped the dessert plate with a lovely pink pool for strawberry cake and honey black pepper gelato. And the Noma dirt? It was my favorite course, but I have no idea what the ingredients were in the bread crumb topping for the menu's first course. But I do know this: Noma, a Copenhagen super star for Nordic cuisine, was named best restaurant in the world for the past two years.

Monday's menu was all vegetarian, an interesting twist for chefs well-known for their snout-to-tail preparation of heritage pigs. Restaurant manager Nick Talarico said the chef's friendship with Justin Fox Burks, a local blogger, photographer and vegetarian cook, inspired the menu. "They like to be challenged," Nick said.

Held on the last Monday of every month, the restaurant's no menu Mondays have a popular following, and now I understand why. I ran into several friends, including Charles Judge whose 8-year-old daughter is a committed vegetarian. "She just came out eating beans," Judge said, laughing. "We thought this would be a special event for our whole family."

If you've never eaten at a no menu dinner, here's how it works: Selecting a cocktail is the only decision you have to make. (I love the olive ice in the A/M Martini pictured here.)

After that, the courses arrive at the table in a nicely paced parade of surprises. Don't bother asking your servers to explain a dish. They won't. Guessing ingredients is part of the fun until you leave, when you receive a handed-scripted menu detailing each course.